Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I will repeat a point that Deputy Barry made and I also made earlier. It is amazing there is not more scrutiny of the simple fact the Minister told us yesterday that inflation is running at 3.7% and yet, as I highlighted earlier, somebody who is on the average industrial wage of €40,000 a year is getting, as a result of the tax changes the Government has brought in, less than 0.5% in increased net income. That amounts to €115 for the entire year. That does not reach the threshold of national fiver day. If you do the maths, it works out as a little over €2 for somebody on average industrial earnings. For those on the median wage of approximately €30,000, the changes will mean an increase of 0.5%. That is against a background of multiple energy price hikes, which will amount to €500, €600, €700 or €800. Most working people will not get a fuel allowance at all but, for those who do, it will not nearly cover the costs. They will also be loaded with carbon tax. Many of them are also paying property tax increases. I will warn the Government that there is a lot of anger building as people are starting to receive bigger bills as they are put into higher valuation bands for the property tax and are facing increased bills on their own homes.

The truth is the Government has cut people's incomes. That is what inflation does. Inflation is a way of taking back from working people. Price rises eat into people's incomes. They have less money for bills and rent, to buy things for their children and to bear the myriad costs that are rising. Of course, the most important of those costs is the cost of accommodation. There was absolutely no mention of renters anywhere in the budget speeches or on the budget books. There was no mention of the student accommodation crisis. I have just come from the student protest, where they are absolutely raging. There was no mention of the situation they are in. All they get is contempt from the chief executive of Dublin City Council about their plight. The Minister is nodding.

Let us be clear, the proliferation of for-profit development all over this city, which is at the centre of this debacle, has been facilitated by successive governments involving or supported by Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and their coalition partners. This has been allowed. If you walk out the door of Leinster House, you will see hotel after hotel, aparthotels, co-living developments, strategic housing developments, you name it. All of them are totally unaffordable. Rents are extortionate. Tax breaks are available for these people to beat the band. The building and labour capacity that is necessary to deliver affordable student accommodation and public housing is being diverted. People are being ripped off by stealth in this budget with its failure to deal with those issues and when the cost of all them all is rising.

I will add to the point about transport. I heard an anchor broadcaster say today that every Department got extra money. No, they did not. The Department of Transport saw a cut of 4%. That is a significant cut, but it is even worse when it is made by a Green Party Minister. Seriously? We need massive investment in public transport. We need it to be cheaper and more frequent. We need more public service routes but the public service obligation budget has been cut. I do not know if some of these figures are misprints but I am gobsmacked by them. You need to read the appendices of budgets. There are references to carbon reduction and public transport, for which last year's budget was €2.4 billion and this year's budget is €900 million. That is a dramatic reduction. There is another drop outlined in the section on climate leadership. Last year's budget was €218 million while this year's is €96 million. That is another major cut from a Green Party Minister and Government. It is absolutely shocking.

The social housing eligibility threshold not being raised is an absolute disgrace, and even as we speak, I am dealing with families who have been thrown off the housing list even though they are in homeless accommodation with children because their income edged slightly over the threshold. That is also an absolute disgrace.

See this speech in context